Trust Fund Battle
Nick Reiner's Trust Fund Access for Defense Faces Legal Hurdles
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Nick Reiner, 32, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of his parents — director Rob Reiner and producer Michele Singer Reiner — at their Brentwood home in December 2025. Now, his civil attorneys have filed a petition in Los Angeles County Probate Court demanding access to a trust fund worth an estimated $1.5 million to $1.7 million, arguing he needs it to pay for private legal counsel KMMO.
The case turns on a single question: Can a man accused of killing his parents use money those parents set aside for him — money he was reportedly owed before the murders ever happened — to fund his own defense? Legal experts say the answer is far from simple NewsNation.
How Nick Reiner Lost His Private Defense Team
After his December 14, 2025 arrest, Nick's siblings Jake and Romy initially paid for private counsel. But they reversed course shortly after, cutting off funding AP News. High-profile attorney Alan Jackson — who previously represented Kevin Spacey and Karen Read — formally withdrew from the case on January 7, 2026, once the money ran out. Reiner was then assigned a public defender.
Jackson has not closed the door entirely. His firm says it "stands ready, willing, and able" to return if paid AP News. That return depends entirely on whether the probate court releases the trust funds. L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has not ruled out seeking the death penalty — a fact that makes the quality of legal representation especially critical Sky News.
The Trust Was Set Up in 1993 — and That Timing Is Everything
Rob and Michele Reiner created a trust for Nick in 1993. Under its terms, Nick was entitled to 50% of the principal when he turned 30, and the remaining 50% at age 35. Nick turned 30 on September 14, 2023 — more than two years before the murders. His civil attorneys Anita P. Wu and Geoffrey A. Neri argue that this first distribution was "unambiguous" and "unconditional" KMMO.
Their core legal argument: the money became Nick's legal property in 2023. The murders happened in 2025. Therefore, they say, the law cannot reach back and take money that was already his before any crime occurred. They filed the petition on June 8, 2026, and a hearing is expected within 30 days FOX 11.
The Slayer Statute Could Block the Funds Anyway
California's "Slayer Statute" — Probate Code Sections 250–259 — bars anyone who "feloniously and intentionally" kills a person from receiving property or trust assets from that victim. Under this law, a killer is treated as if they died before the victim. The trustee, Paul R. Kanin, has withheld the funds partly on these grounds NBC News.
Kanin has also cited Nick's history of mental health struggles and addiction — reportedly 17 stints in rehab since age 15 — as reason to question his competency to receive funds CBC News. Many legal analysts say the Slayer Statute almost certainly blocks the second 50% distribution due at age 35. But the first 50%, which was allegedly past due before the killings, is a much harder call NewsNation.
A Presumed-Innocent Man and His Sixth Amendment Rights
Nick's civil team frames this as a basic fairness issue. They argue the trustee is acting as "judge and jury" by blocking money that was legally Nick's before the crime. Nick has pleaded not guilty and, under the law, is presumed innocent PBS. His attorneys say denying him access to his own assets undermines his Sixth Amendment right to choose his own lawyer.
The prosecution and trustee see it differently. Releasing the funds, they suggest, would let a man accused of killing his parents use the wealth those parents built to escape justice NewsNation. The probate court's ruling could set a precedent — and it could determine whether Nick Reiner faces a death-penalty trial with a public defender or with one of the most in-demand criminal defense lawyers in the country.
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